Thermal performance of flat-plate collectors - experiment and unsteady state analysis

摘要

A simple analysis was made on the performance of flat-plate solar air collectors by considering the heat capacity effects of the collectors. The analytical results were compared with the experimental results. The Reynolds numbers of the air-flow were chosen to be 1400 and 2800. The unsteady state analysis that considered the heat capacity effects could predict well the outlet air temperatures and the collector efficiencies for the time from the early morning to the evening of clear days. The analysis could also predict the outlet temperatures well even when the solar radiation intensity and wind velocity changed abruptly.